THE disabled victim of a tragic car accident in the mid-1990s and his family are at their wits end after seeing their support from the state dwindle in the past 12 months amid Surrey’s well-publicised social care crisis.

Robert Bridger, now 35, of Roman Way, Farnham, was aged just 14 when he was hit by a car near the Badshot Lea crossroads days before Christmas on December 20, 1996, leaving him severely brain damaged and without any compensation.

Suffering motor control issues and tremors in both his legs and hands ever since, Robert is increasingly unable to walk or operate a wheelchair independently and has been a prisoner in his own home for much of the past decade - with no social life or friends to speak of, and only his collection of DVDs to occupy his days.

Tragically, just a year before Robert’s accident, his dad Michael suffered a serious stroke and has also been severely disabled ever since - leaving his mum Marion, who herself overcame cancer in 1993, the full-time carer for both her son and husband.

The family have been well supported over the decades by a succession of council-funded carers, support workers and occupational therapists, as well as home improvements and occasional respite care for Marion.

However, the Bridgers have seen this support dramatically dwindle in the past year and have been without a permanent support worker since February 2017, which Marion says has made her life “hell”.

They have also been told they will have to fund much of this support themselves in future - and Marion, who will turn 70 this June, hit breaking point last week when her son was again refused an electric wheelchair by Farnham Wheelchair Services, run by Virgin Care at Farnham Hospital.

The pensioner, who is being treated for stress, told the Herald: “I’ve never lost my temper with anyone before but I just couldn’t take it. The lady from Virgin Care asked Robert to get in his chair and watched him, with great difficulty, propel himself forwards - and apparently that’s reason enough to refuse him for an electric wheelchair. I absolutely flipped and kicked the woman out of my house.

“I just couldn’t believe for the second time they’ve found a little loophole to stop my son being independent and getting out into the world.

“I’ll be 70 in a couple of months’ time, and I have to get my son independent before I die. He’s been housebound upstairs for 10 years, and he never sees anybody.

“After the accident all his friends have gone their own ways. He’s all on his own, he has no friends, all he has is me and this support worker, and I can’t go out of the world leaving my son like that.”

Joanne Neal, Robert’s occupational therapist, added: “What they have done is wrong. Robert is going to have no quality of life, we need to get him out, he needs to meet young people. He’s very marooned here.

“He’s had three major falls in the last two months, he really can’t stand. He’s completely reliant on people to be around him, and at his age he doesn’t deserve that.”

Responding, a spokesman for the service provider Virgin Care, said: “The local NHS sets the criteria we must use when assessing people in the Wheelchair Service in Surrey.

“Our team do all that they can to explain the decision based on these criteria and patients always have the option to appeal to the local NHS commissioners for exceptional funding.”

A spokesman for the NHS North East Hampshire and Farnham Clinical Commissioning Group, responsible for commissioning community health services in the area, added: “A GP or other qualified prescriber will refer a person to the wheelchair service provider and the provider will take a decision on whether to provide a wheelchair or mobility aid, based on the individual meeting the necessary criteria.

“If a patient wishes to raise any concerns or complaints they should contact the service provider in the first instance. If they are unable to reach an agreement they can contact the CCG to request a review.”